


Time, Will, and the Force (Or Fulcrum is Done With This)

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Background Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 12:52:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8625148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: When the Temple came down around her ears, Fulcrum decided to explore. And then she decided to meddle, using the power of the Daughter and a Sith ritual that was carefully reworked for the betterment of all.





	

When Ahsoka had reworked the meddling Sith inscription she found in the Malachor Temple's dark under-passages into something she prayed would benefit the galaxy as a whole, she had been prepared to give up everything. Her heart would be lost by giving up Rex, the crew of the _Ghost_ that had been filling her need for a family, the allies of the Rebellion, possibly even her identity, in the long run, as she thought it would take her to a time when she was still just a growing youngling becoming strong as a Padawan. 

The worst case she suspected was shortly after that Padawan was stripped of her beads.

However, the idea that the Force would not be subtle and let her go to her Master, help save him from the hell he had evidently fallen into never crossed her mind. Fortunately, her survival instincts had her lightsabers lit and in hand faster than the Sith could actually react to a situation he was unprepared for.

Four Jedi were framed near the doorway, and evidently, her advent had prevented the first attack against them, because the Sith was holding a lightsaber raised, turning toward her to throw lightning. 

The Sith learned that his new attacker was far more ruthless in both defense and offense, as she immediately caught the lightning and surged forward to attack him regardless, before the battle was on in earnest for them all.

Ahsoka finally found the opening she had been looking for, wishing that for all the Jedi had been helpful in wearing the man down that they would **get out of her way** , and plunged the shoto to the hilt into the Sith's chest. The resulting explosion blew them all back against walls... but she forced herself to push back to her feet. 

"Now... where the kriff is Anakin?" she demanded of the group, intent on saving him if it was any way possible. 

"...in the Temple, or at least he had better be..." Mace said, with no small frustration. 

She glared at him. "Stupid of you as ever, if he's there alone! Did you stop and think about how much unfettered access this piece of filth had to him growing up?" She put her hilts on her belt, finding her aid pack to get a bandage out for the worst of her wounds. 

Saesee Tiin let his eyes narrow, while Kit had to duck his head, and then moved to help her get the seeping wound cared for. 

"Ahsoka Tano?" he asked, curious, as his hands moved. 

"Yes, Master Fisto. The Force guided me back to this point... it's a long story... and right now I need my former master in my care as quickly as possible. 

"Though, if I am right, killing the _di'kut_ probably knocked Anakin out." 

Kit blinked at her once, twice, his head tilting to the side. "What are you implying, my young friend?"

Ahsoka's mouth twisted wryly at being called young, too used to playing 'wise mystic one' in her role as Fulcrum.

"I'm saying that the filth primed the perfect apprentice, fueled by years of the Order giving fodder for it by being a distrustful bunch of anooba at Skyguy," she told them all, then held her ground easily at the glares. "Shove off; I just saved every one of you from dying."

"We would have prevailed," Agen said, earning a patented Ahsoka Tano eyeroll.

"No, no you wouldn't have," she said, only softening her words because of Kit, laying a hand over his. "I only know of one Jedi active in the time I come from, because the Chancellor was going to win, and execute all the Jedi. Now, am I stealing a speeder, or will you take me to Anakin?"

"I will take you," Kit replied, "and send others to bring the rest of you back, my friends, as you find you may return." The idea of that, of them all dead somehow, of the Sith victorious... it made him quail, and go cold, and he turned to leave with her.

Even Mace found himself unable to reply to that, to the idea of the Order not just failing but vanishing.

Ahsoka went with Kit, breathing slightly easier. "Thank you. And... I'm sorry. I did not expect to wind up in that moment when I used ... lost techniques to go to the moment where I could most change the outcome. I expected to arrive in Anakin's presence."

"I believe you just stated that we owe you all our lives," Kit pointed out, "so I do not think many apologies are at all necessary. I am glad to still live, and more glad that Sidious will not see his plans to fruition. Why Skywalker?"

Ahsoka knew her lekku showed her deep unhappiness. "He Fell. Probably this day, if I am right as to what date it is. I don't have proof that it is directly Sidious's influence, but it makes logical sense on what evidence I could piece together after the fact."

" _Skywalker_ Fell?" Kit asked, his tentacles flexing in shock and dismay, his head shaking. "But he was so sincerely distressed, from the short time I was in the Chamber with Mace, it was so very real..."

Ahsoka grimaced. "Having just fought the Sith fighter he became, not a ten-day ago, I'm pretty certain on him Falling. And I know to the date when the Order was destroyed, despite being far from Coruscant. Because there was a matter of how the Jedi were executed and them not caring I wasn't one; I carried lightsabers."

"...I am quite certain I don't want to know the details of that," Kit told her, even though the scent of her grief and anger (and knowing Ahsoka Tano's personality) had already given him an idea of how it could have been done, and something deep in his chest recoiled at the idea, "unless there is some chance of it occurring without Sidious or Dooku?"

"No!" Her intense pleasure at that idea, knowing that she had prevented her brothers from ceasing to be themselves and being betrayed like that, radiated into the Force cleanly. "No, the power was limited to just him, because he was an egotistical, narcissistic piece of filth." Ahsoka let her eyes take in the Coruscant around her... one recovering from the invasion, but otherwise normal.

"And no, those events are best left to my memory alone. I just need to get to Anakin and pull him out of whatever massive hole he is in as far as his mind goes." Surely the Senator had to be safe now, right?

"Well. Thank the Force for small favors?" KIt said, pushing the speeder to move just a little faster, ignoring the minor details of traffic regulations and such. "We are almost there, Ahsoka. If he is -- so close as that to Falling," that was still impossible to comprehend, to him. Even with all of Skywalker's tendencies to aggression and unorthodox innovation, he was not... Not who Kit would have even suspected. "Are you sure you can..."

Ahsoka tipped her chin up, lekku all flexing with determination, all but screaming defiance at Fate. "He was my Master. That counted for something when I faced what he became, as I was able to reach him, for a heartbeat at least, before he became the monster again.

"I will not fail him again, Master Fisto. I never should have left him, no matter how little I trusted the rest of you by that point."

Kit sighed heavily, watching from the corner of one eye and reading the silent scream there with no trouble, tasting it in the pheromones roiling from her, and he had to admit the truth of her last words. "He did exactly what he should have, as your Master. As to the 'rest of us'... we did nothing to preserve your trust in us. I **am** sorry, Ahsoka."

She reached over, touching his hand. "I made my peace with that it happened, in some ways, years ago. I will never understand how it came to that, but it happened and I lived. I survived. I was where I needed to be when everything else turned to ash, much as I may have wished otherwise at first.

"I may not be a Jedi, but I serve the Force, and will move forward again, now that it has given me this chance to right terrible wrongs."

Kit set the speeder down in the Temple bay and placed his other hand over hers, studying her face and nodded once. "There are more ways than the Order to do so, yes," he agreed quietly, "quite obviously. Shall we go find your Master, then?"

"Yes," Ahsoka said, gathering her shields back into place around that training bond. She didn't want to be noticed by Anakin yet, not if he was possibly already Fallen, a pawn that had sent all four of those Masters to their likely deaths. She drew against the Force, knew she was pushing far too hard for all that she had done so recently, and let Kit guide her. Too long gone and the place destroyed besides that, she told herself, irked that she couldn't remember how to get to the Council chamber, where Anakin probably was.

Kit moved rapidly, his attention stretching out through the Temple as they made their way, and they were only most of the way there when they turned a corner to find Skywalker's dark robes sprawled across the stonework.

"Oh, Skyguy." Ahsoka moved swiftly, kneeling beside the man. She placed her hand along his face, struck by the differences in how it laid there now, as a woman, as opposed to the girl she had been. "Master Fisto, you should go retrieve or assist the others. I can handle him from here."

"Are you certain?"

Ahsoka could hear the concern, and it touched her, deep inside that wounded child who had been banished. "Yes. This has to be the blow-back of a snapped Force Bond, and with the filth dead, I shouldn't have any trouble reaching my former master." She scooped up the long body, thinking he seemed too light, and stood. Maybe it was just the memory conflict, because young Ahsoka had always struggled to carry him without using the Force.

She suspected, though, that Anakin had been neglecting himself.

Kit studied her for a moment, then nodded and turned to go back. A snapped Force Bond was a terrible thing, but to have had one with a Sith... then again, an untrained child had no guards upon their mind, and Ahsoka's wrath about the access Sidious had had to him had been intense. 

Anakin twitched at being moved, but did not come more towards conscious than that. 

Ahsoka started toward the quarters they shared, but that felt wrong, and she waited until Master Fisto had enough time to get clear of the Temple. She could so clearly recall the publicized funeral of Naboo's Senator. Wasn't Artoo connected to the woman?

She pulled Anakin's wrist up with the Force, manipulating the control to contact the astromech. "Artoo? I have Skyguy with me, and I think he needs to not be in the Temple. Can you help me take him somewhere safer?"

She was not surprised at the wild whistle of shock from the droid, before there was a hesitating request for verification of who she was.

"Force things, little buddy, but I am… was? Snips. I want to get him safe, to someone who might need my help too, if you know what I mean. I'm going to the garage now."

Artoo warbled again, edged and uncertain, but he agreed to join her, and closed the channel again. 

Anakin stirred in her arms, again, a restless noise in his throat, especially as they passed people, his head shifting back and forth. He wasn't awake, not even close, but the presence of others was flickering against his mind. He curled against the solid presence with his, as he started to come more awake, but only started.

"Shh, Skyguy," Ahsoka said softly, reaching for the long disused training bond. She wrapped herself around his mind gently. "Rest. Artoo is going to help us go somewhere safe." She picked up her pace, ignoring those that she passed, radiating the confidence that had been her armor for years now.

Anakin stirred again, but he subsided in the next moment, her strength and steadiness keeping him unconscious, until she had laid him into the speeder. Something about being separated from the warmth against him had him stirring, his eyes half-opening. His head felt like it wanted to split in half, his vision doubled. He knew that ceiling, Temple landing bay he thought... who was the woman leaning over him? 

Togruta, from lekku and montrals, colors like Master Ti and Ahsoka's, markings too blurred to make out. Why was he in the speeder bay? What had he -- 

"Shh, Skyguy. I'm taking you… if Artoo will cooperate… to somewhere you'll actually feel safe," the woman said, in a voice that was not quite Snips, having a more settled range, richer tones and mature inflections.

Artoo warbled at Anakin. [Go home?] he asked, optic sensor looking for a hand sign of yes or no.

"She may not be there, given that the Senate is probably going to emergency session soon, but I'm guessing you'd rather be there than in the Temple?" was asked of him right after that warble, in a soft voice meant only for his ears.

Almost Ahsoka's voice, Ahsoka's name for him, but not-Ahsoka, not with montrals that stood high as Shaak Ti's, and he frowned, his forehead creasing in confusion, before --

 _Padmé_. **Padmé**. Not safe, panic hammering in his head hard enough to split it, his hands pressing up against his forehead. He had to protect her, had to keep his vision from coming true, had to -- the Chancellor! 

He pushed up against the seat, his vision still doubled, "The Council, I have to -- " 

"Anakin." Ahsoka used a more firm voice, not quite command, but one made to arrest the attention of those who heard it. "The Council members survived. I've already seen them. I want to be certain the threat is over, and take care of you. Point blank, I'm not letting any Sith win. That includes protecting your Senator."

She could feel images of the woman pounding at the bond, images of her showing the same heaviness her funeral had shown, and Ahsoka wanted to scream inside as she knew in her soul that the woman had been pregnant at her death. How out of his head would her master have been over not just a mate but their child?

He started to shake his head, stopped as that exploded pain through him, fear hammering up in him. They wouldn't help him save her, Yoda had proven as much, the Chancellor had promised, he -- 

\-- but they survived, if they were alive it meant -- 

He had to save her, had to -- wait, what? 

Help for Padmé, for their child, and Ahsoka... did he believe this was Ahsoka? He reached, wincing at the pain in his head, and there she was, her presence powerful and strong and _known_ , and he started to calm down. Ahsoka, any Ahsoka, would help protect Padmé no matter what, but -- 'I can save her'... 

"Anakin. Sith lie. Sith hide truth. He is dead, and I will make certain he left nothing behind to hurt her," Ahsoka promised. She piloted them out into traffic, accepting Artoo's help with where to go. "I will not fail either of you."

He knew they lied, he knew Dooku's lies and slights, Ventress' never-trustworthy commentary, and her calm on the words only reinforced what he knew, but -- that he was dead had a fresh flare of panic in his chest before that steadily _sure_ promise cut through some of it. She sounded so sure.

And it was -- somehow -- who his Snips... might become? "You -- how are you -- ?" 

"The Force allowed me to go when I was most needed. I expected to come to you, not arrive to prevent him from slaughtering the Masters." She reached over to pet his hair. "But now I do have you. And I will not lose you."

"To me?" he asked, even as he moved enough to push against the hand running through his hair, wanting the comfort of the touch more than he normally let himself. But at the moment he hurt, he could barely keep two thoughts together -- if his thoughts were a racing pod right now, the couplings would be snapping every other second; and she felt like all of the stability he so completely lacked. "I can't lose **her** , Ahsoka, I can't lose her like I lost mom, I _won't_ \-- " 

He would do anything, pay any price, to stop it this time. 

"I know, Skyguy." She could not help the grief in her voice. "Well aware of how far you went for her. Not that I knew… Kriff! Skyguy, you have to send help to Mandalore! It's burning and Maul's going to get away!"

At least remembering that broke her from remembering the rest of what would have been happening now.

"The _haran_ he will!" Ow. Even his own raised voice hurt, and his brow furrowed hard, trying to make his wits cobble together enough sense to figure out how to most quickly get _his_ Ahsoka the help she and Rex needed. "Yularen's mid-refuel and resupply," he said, thinking. "501st's in-barracks groundside -- the half I brought, anyway... 212th's on Utapau. Yoda and Luminara are on Kashyyyk. I... think they're closest."

He reached for his comm, tapping it to get a link to the command center in the Temple and pass the word that Mandalore needed aid _now_. 

Ahsoka listened, thankful she would have that help. That Rex wouldn't face what he did. That Maul would pay. She had no doubt what Bo-Katan would do to him.

Luminara. That name sent shivers through her. Kanan… Caleb now… wouldn't face that trap. He wouldn't lose his master. Fulcrum would go to Lothal soon, find the Bridgers and let them know she would teach Ezra in time.

Anakin pushed until he had the assurance it would happen, every moment of even the voice-only more draining, and clicked the comm off with a faint noise of relief. "...Force, why does my head hurt so badly? I can't have cracked it that hard..." 

"Force bond. It snapped when I killed the Sith." She petted his hair lightly. "The di'kut was manipulating you. Probably all your Temple life."

Anakin shuddered at that, his hand sliding up to tangle through hers, the thought making his gorge rise -- he'd trusted him, trusted his friend, through so much, leaned on his advice and his counsel and the depth of his knowledge so may times, and all the while it had been. Something else. All just one giant game? One long, cruel manipulation to make him... make him Fall, he realized, like a very painful chime sounding, and he wanted, badly, to be sick. 

"I am sorry, Skyguy. I'm here for you, vod." She held his hand, focusing on traffic. "It will be fine now."

Her sympathy helped, a little, but it... it still hurt, made him nauseous, and he was finding it hard to calm down from his fear over his Angel, even though he believed that tone, the way she said she would protect Padmé. "...glad you are," he answered, her quiet 'brother' reassuring him a little more, somehow. 

Ahsoka reached into her reserves, pushing healing at him as well as soothing. "We're almost there."

"Okay," he answered, feeling that soothing, steadying push of strength slide into him, making it a little easier to breathe, to think, to hold on to that it was going to be okay, that the Sith was dead -- 'Anakin, I am your friend, help' -- "Ahsoka, I -- " 

"Let me get us there and parked, Anakin," Ahsoka told him softly, feeling that creeping presence within him even now. "You have a kriffing mess in your head, and I can't do that kind of healing and pilot." She wrapped her end of the bond around his mind all the more strongly, even as she knew she was going to need to sleep for hours to recover from how much the Force was keeping her going.

He nodded, holding on to the bond and trying to stay calm. It wasn't easy, with the way his mind felt, but... he had to try. The familiar sight of the Senatorial apartments was a relief, even as his fingers reached back for Artoo. If he was going to be with Padmé, he had to pull himself together at least somewhat... 

Artoo gave a low beep of comfort and support, worried about his pilot. Ahsoka half-smiled; she'd missed that droid, even as she and Arseven continued to be a solid team. She let Artoo direct her to the correct landing pad, as she didn't trust her memory, and settled the hopper down lightly.

"She might not be here," Ahsoka reminded Anakin. "But that doesn't mean she's in danger; it means the Senate isn't wasting time."

Anakin was torn between violently disliking that thought, because he needed to see her, needed to be able to touch her again... and a faint kind of relief, because it meant that he would have more time to get himself together. "...it's the Senate. Are we really betting on that?" 

He hauled himself upright in the seat, ignored his swimming vision, and pushed himself up out of the speeder, turning to make sure Artoo was right behind him and not having any more of his issues. 

Artoo hurried to catch up, getting his dome under Anakin's hand, while Ahsoka moved a little more sedately. She was starting to feel the fatigue, but could not rest. She was the tool of the Force, living up to the name she had chosen, to lever things back toward a balance.

And the Jedi Order was not going to like her one bit when she started fixing their side of it.

Padmé heard the entry from the landing pad with surprise and hope… then rushed to Anakin as she realized how poor he looked. Her eyes only barely noted the tall Togruta, mistaking her for Shaak Ti in the moment, but that did not stop her.

She had been terrified for Anakin ever since the incident with the Chancellor, and now she was supposed to be reporting at the next hour to the Senate concerning the Chancellor?

"Anakin?" she questioned, even as she pulled him in against her. Whomever had come with him had to be someone he trusted, given her current state of dress left little to the imagination concerning her pregnancy.

He pulled her tight into his arms, hooking his head over her shoulder as all of her love and worry, her relief and fright, poured across his mind and nearly forced him to a knee in front of her. "I'm sorry," he whispered against her hair, "I'm so sorry..." 

Ahsoka leaned against the wall, out of the way, not even doing more than smile a little as Artoo started running sensors over her, and not watching the scene between the pair. They deserved privacy for his breakdown, but she couldn't afford to let him out of her awareness yet. She just did the best she could, to let him have this moment.

"Ani, what? What are you apologizing for?" Padmé asked, confused. Yes, they had argued, but that was over and done with.

Anakin rubbed his cheek against her hair, holding on, shaking just a little. "Every time I've argued with you about the Chancellor, about what he wants... I'm _sorry_ , Angel..." 

Padmé held onto him even tighter then, eyes closing. "This has to do with the emergency session I was summoned to?" She tangled her fingers in his hair, shifting back to look at his face. "Anakin, whatever has happened, whatever is making you this upset… I love you, and if you feel you need my forgiveness, you have it. 

"We're fine with each other, Ani. There's no reason to be upset, not over things between us."

He nodded once, sharp and jerky, not enough to dislodge her hand, and kept his eyes on hers, relaxing a little for her steady, even voice. "I -- okay. Okay, Padmé. That... okay. I know I'm not making much sense, I -- you probably shouldn't know before the session -- I just... I _had_ to see you." 

"Actually, Skyguy, I think we should tell her," Ahsoka said, pushing off the wall to come forward. Her voice made Padmé look up. The nickname made her look harder, and then her eyes went very wide.

"Ahsoka? But… but…"

"The Force, milady," Ahsoka told her as she came forward. "And I very much need to double check your health, just in case, because Skyguy is worried about you. May I? I promise I actually know how to heal, and I want to check on the Skycrawler while I am at it."

Her wording on that made Padmé laugh, despite the ludicrous, impossibility of little Ahsoka being this stately, predator-graceful warrior in front of her.

"Skycr -- _Ahsoka!_ " Anakin yelped at her irreverent commentary, shaking his head even as he looked at her curiously. "You think we should? Okay, then. Padmé... Let her, Angel, please. Dooku --" and that was a flash of lightsabers crossing, hated man on his knees no longer begging, " -- didn't lie. There was a Sith in the. Controlling the. Senate." 

Padmé drew Anakin to the couch, nodding to Ahsoka. The Togruta came closer, opening her senses further, and her eyes went wide as she caught more sound than just one prey-fast heartbeat under the calmer one of the mother-to-be.

"Controlling?" she asked, as she sat down.

Ahsoka sat on her other side, gathering the Force close to verify there were no Sith traps in this woman her master loved, in the pregnancy itself, and nodded. "With plans of Empire, for once he had disposed of the Jedi Order," she said, still half-amazed at the idea of two babies from these people she cared for.

"But…" Padmé turned her attention to how broken up Anakin was, to the idea that was not being said outright, and felt a wave of deep anger rising. A wave that Ahsoka caught and squelched with the same skills she had used for those vod'e she had once helped in the aftermath of the Jedi execution.

"No, milady. Save that anger for other times," Ahsoka said. "I understand, and I agree. But … have a bad feeling he did not release his spirit fully into the Force when I ended his life. You had to have been near the heart of his plotting against Skyguy, and that's why I am checking you over."

"Oh." That made sense… fueled her temper, but Padmé could see the logic, and worked hard to keep her emotions in check.

Anakin curled up against Padmé's side, holding her close. The feel of her anger, her fury, even just for the moment before Ahsoka did something to settle her and murmured about the possibility of the Chancellor hanging around in the Force. That thought gave him a hard shudder, as he clung to her, and he looked over her head at Ahsoka, waiting to hear what she had to say about Padmé, if there was anything... 

Ahsoka smiled at Anakin, then reached out and touched Padmé's shoulder. "Whatever rituals the Naboo have for babies? You need to tell them to double up," she said with a small smile. "And I feel nothing lingering, only perfect health for you and the two babies."

Padmé's breath exploded at that. "Two? Two? That's why I'm big as a house?!" She laughed happily and threw herself into Anakin's embrace again. "Twins, Ani!"

Anakin made a noise that was far too close to a squeak, shock replacing most of his other emotions, but his arms latched tight around his wife and he kissed her cheek, her lips, holding on. "Twins... that's -- " he couldn't do anything but laugh for a moment, two, and a happy, "maybe we're both right, then!" fell off his lips. 

Even with everything else, the thought of their child -- children, oh sweet Force! -- was enough to break through it and leave him nothing but happy. 

"Or they could both be boys," Padmé retorted with a smile, before she kissed him. "Oh, Ani! This is wonderful!" She refused to let the other news settle on her soul, not yet. 

"Congratulations on a pair of Skycrawlers," Ahsoka said, moving back away from them, her tone just as irreverent as her younger self normally pulled off.

"It is," he agreed, his arms curled around her, dipping his head to kiss her, making an amused gesture at Ahsoka's irreverence. Once he pulled his lips away, he said, "No way they're both boys, love." 

"We'll see," Padmé said happily, before standing. "I need to get ready." She looked at Ahsoka, still amazed at the impossible appearance of the older warrior. "You'll stay with him?"

"As long as he needs me, Senator," the woman assured her.

He didn't want to let her out of his arms, no, that was an understatement, he loathed it... but it was needful. Given everything, she _had_ to be in the Senate when the session began. 

And... Ahsoka was here. He wouldn't be alone with the pain and the grief and the anger in his mind, not like he had been after Master Windu had left. She was here. 

Padmé went to get changed into her most concealing clothing, more mindful than ever of protecting them from scandal. After she left, Ahsoka moved closer, reaching out to push her fingers through Anakin's hair.

"Do you want to wait until she is gone to work on the mess in your head, Skyguy?" Ahsoka asked in a low tone.

He leaned into her hand, relaxing a little more at the contact, then studied her deep-blue eyes, thinking about that question. "Probably best?" 

"Alright. Then lay down, and close your eyes, so you quit trying to focus," Ahsoka said, moving to offer her lap as a place to put his head, yet keeping contact the whole while. She wasn't going to fail him, was letting the Force dictate to her, and it said he needed physical contact more than air.

Anakin moved, letting his head settle into her lap, the hand in his hair soothing, steadying... he closed his eyes, just letting himself drift, holding on with his left hand laying on her knee. It hurt a little less now that he was lying down, Ahsoka -- she was still so shocking, all tall and curving montrals -- had been right about that. 

Ahsoka stroked his hair, gently, and let her head lean back, eyes closing. A light resting would help her when she tackled Anakin's mind, and she just made certain to keep their bond open. It was probably a good thing that her younger self was both very busy and also shielding herself to keep her fears and pain from coming through. It would be awkward, at best, for their minds to touch.

Padmé emerged after a bit, elegantly coiffed and dressed so that eyes were drawn away from her stomach. Even looking, it was hard to see anything amiss, unless it was already known what to look for. She took in the image on the couch, and relaxed even further; that had to be Ahsoka for Anakin to be that vulnerable in his positioning. 

Her captain and at least one of the handmaidens were on their way to meet her, so she quickly moved to the couch, managing to kneel down so she could kiss her husband lightly.

"I will come home to you, Ani. Please stay here," she entreated, before looking up at Ahsoka, who met her eyes and nodded once.

Anakin opened his eyes, lifting up to kiss her, before he settled against Ahsoka's thigh again. "I intend to," he agreed, "unless something happens." 

"Good." She rose to her feet with some difficulty, her balance not what she was accustomed to, and then smiled at Ahsoka. "Make sure both of you eat."

"Maybe after sleep, milady. It is far more needed," Ahsoka answered. She watched Padmé leave, felt the presence of two persons outside the door that were expected, and then looked down at Anakin. "You have a very strong mate," she said, approvingly. "I did like her when I was a padawan. But I can see and feel the way you resonate with her now, and it is a good thing."

"She's wonderful," Anakin answered, smiling at the praise for her. "...I knew I was for her before I knew anything else about the Force, or that I could use it..." 

"Like me knowing you would be my Master," Ahsoka said, smiling at him. "So, let's start working on whatever that kriffing piece of filth left behind, so we can get some sleep, alright?"

"Sleep," Anakin murmured thoughtfully, "that would be nice. And yeah -- don't think we really have a choice about it, do we?" 

He needed his head to hurt less, needed to not have that creeping 'wrong' in his mind, and if she was right about the Chancellor, they needed to deal with it before -- 

"Yes we do," she answered his unspoken thought, though she almost felt like there was a protective presence hovering near them. That was for later, she firmly decided. Right now, she opened the bond wider, slipping into his mind more fully to begin the painful process of saving her master from the trap that had been set over the course of more than ten years.

+++

Obi-Wan felt a sharp spike of relief that Grievous was no longer a threat, but also was aware that there was a buzz of … something? that he needed to address, in his mind. Or maybe, he told himself ruefully, he was becoming too accustomed to every upward note of this war being followed in grave tragedy.

He got everything situated, and then took over a comm unit to contact the Temple, wishing them to know his mission was done. Mace would be relieved, he thought, as the connection completed its relays and encryption.

Kit had taken up residence within the Council Chamber -- Saesee Tiin was out among the Senators, using his other gifts to seek those who had known Palpatine was Sidious while Mace broke the news to that body, and the others had departed either to rest or for their units -- to handle incoming comms. Obi-Wan Kenobi had been one of those he had most hoped to hear from, and his signal coming in, translating to his image, was a very welcome sight. 

"Master Kenobi," he greeted him, pleased, "how went your endeavor?"

"I still detest blasters," Obi-Wan complained. "But in this case, one proved effective. I am reporting that General Grievous is now deceased. I have my unit readying for recall. Where are we most needed at this point, Master Fisto?" He was quite surprised that neither Mace nor Saesee were the ones taking his call; they had been handling much of the central command.

"I am... beyond relieved, to hear that," Kit answered, his fingers flicking across the pad on his knee to update that status. "Much more than. But as to where you're needed -- _here_. The 212th might be most welcome on Mandalore with Ahsoka and Master Luminara, but I deeply wish you could be here within the hour, not most of a day from now." 

He knew -- no one with ears could avoid knowing -- how fractious things sometimes were between the most famous pair of Jedi in the Republic, but he had seen their devotion to each other, as well, and if anyone other than that impossibly-adult young woman could help Anakin through this, it would be Obi-Wan. 

That Tano-the-elder had disappeared with said damaged young man did not sit at all well with him, though he was sure she had her reasons. 

Obi-Wan's eyes shifted to a darker shade of blue, and he knew it, as every sense of tragedy sprang forth. Of course something had gone wrong! And it had to be Anakin, his beloved brother and padawan.

"Of course, Master Fisto," he answered in a controlled voice. "I will send the 212th on to relieve… you said Master Luminara is there? Odd. Very well. And be to Coruscant as swiftly as I may," he added in the clipped accent of that world.

And that was Obi-Wan panicking while trying very hard not to let anyone know it, but Kit had known him far too long to miss that shift of his features or the suddenly clipped tone. He thought for a moment about how to say it, and then had it. "He discovered that we were correct, my friend, in our reasons for asking what we did -- and is.... unwell, from it." 

Obi-Wan closed his eyes briefly. "He would be. I knew that was a poor thing to even consider, no matter how desperate we were!" He opened his eyes and nodded once. "I will be there soon. Please… do not judge him harshly if he is less controlled than usual. Friendship is not an easy burden for him. To have it betrayed… well, I will be there. Hopefully he will listen to me."

"...I admit to feeling a not small amount of betrayal myself," Kit replied, blinking once, slowly. "It must be far worse for him. I should, I think, be here when you return. Force be with you, Obi-Wan." 

"And with you." Obi-Wan turned off the comm unit. "Commander Cody," he called into his wrist comm. "You are to take our unit to reinforce the 332nd at Mandalore," he said. "I will be going separately to Coruscant."

Cody sighed across the comm before answering, "Yes, General," as though he hadn't said a thing. He did not like that this was yet another mission in short order that took his General away from them and left his General without their backup, but... orders were orders. 

Even if his General was losing his lightsaber too often again. 

"Cody… bring them home safely," Obi-Wan said softly, showing how worried he was currently, before he went to acquire a ship and get back to Anakin, before everything got worse.

+++

Anakin came awake again to a head that didn't hurt, mingled grief and fury, and a profound need to do two things. One, be certain that his visions had no chance of coming true, and two, to get about protecting their _vod'e_ from the ugly facts he'd been made to forget. He also awoke to Padmé, which made him smile. "Hi," he murmured, soft, reaching up for her. 

"Hello," she said, returning that smile with a gentle one of her own, leaning in to lightly kiss his lips. "I think I like waking to you, and having hope that we can make the galaxy a better place." She was still angry over what had been done, using her people, using her! But she was moving forward, backing Bail Organa and his bloc of Senators, as she knew she could not afford to be as much in the public eye as he could. 

"I definitely like waking up with you," Anakin answered, kissing her again, smiling up at her. Love for her, for what they'd made with each other, flared up in him bright as a sun and he cupped his hand around her cheek, smiling. "Sorry I was down when you got in, we... had a lot to do, ripping his compulsions out of my head." 

She felt a surge of anger… remembered Ahsoka's warning… and made herself focus on the goodness she had with her husband. "It's alright. Ahsoka gave up my side of the bed once she was certain it was me." She pressed into his touch, loving that they could steal moments like this.

Anakin laughed, soft, shaking his head at that comment about Ahsoka having been curled up against him, and kissed her again. "She's... I don't even know what to say, or do, with her, but... we needed her. ... _I_ needed her," he admitted, despite the bitter taste of those words. 

And their men needed her. Needed what she knew, needed to be protected from what would have happened to them. "So, how terrible is the Senate at the moment?" 

Padmé shook her head. "There are going to be a lot of emergency elections in systems around the galaxy," she said. "Master Tiin was present, and tagged several Senators for investigation. Others… just reacted in ways that gave themselves away. The Security Council is still in session to handle that. We've decided on triumvirs, instead of chancellor and vice-chancellor, to handle the reins until things are sorted out. All campaigns planned to push into Separatist space are on hold; defensive measures only until we see how things progress." 

She looked rather pleased; Organa had been persuasive and pushy, getting the momentum going.

Anakin frowned at that, hating the thought that the rot ran that deep... and wondering how many of them he knew from spending time with the Chancellor. He didn't really want to know, but he was sure he would find out. 

Triumvirs. Adding yet a third person to the arguments about how to do things, what to do, still _really_ didn't sound like any way to run a war, but -- he was going to have to completely rebuild his opinions on politics and government, given how tainted the source of most of his opinions had proven to be. "You think that's a wise choice?" he asked, searching her face. "The triads, I mean, not -- pulling back to our own systems is definitely right." 

"It's the only way we can govern without waiting until an election is held, and we can't hold an election of a Chancellor and Vice Chancellor with as few Senators as are in the clear," Padmé explained. "It's temporary, Ani."

Anakin nodded, shifting to lean against her, wanting that comfort. "That makes sense, I guess. Okay." He sighed, low in his throat, after a few seconds. "There's so much to do for us, too... and all I want to do is stay with you." 

"I know." Padmé cuddled him closer, trying to bolster his strength for what was coming. And then she giggled, as one of the babies kicked the warmth pressing too close to her belly. "That one is the girl, if there is one," she teased.

"Absolutely," Anakin agreed, grinning -- and oh, that felt good -- before he slid down to press a kiss to her belly, right where he'd been kicked. "Hi there, little one," he said, his fingers tangled with his wife's, his mind brushing over the babies', and suddenly there was a touch -- no, two -- in return, strong and bright, curious/loving/happy, and his arms wrapped tight around his wife. 

"Ani? What is it?" Padmé asked, curious about what had provoked that. 

"...they say hello," Anakin answered, shook his head slightly, "well, not quite, but -- they felt me, and answered. That... didn't happen before. It. They're -- so innocent. Just... love, and comfort, and each other..." 

That made Padmé's smile soften further. "Oh Ani. Maybe… maybe you weren't allowed to feel that, for fear it would pull you away from the plans for you." She kissed him lightly, pressing close again, basking in this moment.

He shifted to get closer to her, anger at that thought flaring hard in the back of his mind, before he pushed it away to lose himself in this for another little while, in his wife's love and the still-there touch of their children's minds. "Maybe," he agreed, soft. 

His children were _not_ growing up in the Temple, they were never going to be taught that the bright love and bond between them was a flaw, or anything but the Force's own gift. The decision clicked into place without his even thinking about it. It simply was. 

He put it away, for now, and held his wife and children, breathing. 

"I love you. I love our family. We're going to find a way to do what is needed and still take care of us," Padmé said softly. "We just need to get through this, and then we'll figure out how to handle the rest." She kissed his forehead then, closing her eyes to savor this.

"Yes," he agreed, settling a little more for her certainty, "we will. We'll get through this. I love you, Angel." 

He -- they, he and Ahsoka -- had things to do, he had to pry himself out of this bed somehow... 

"We need to get up," Padmé said, on his wavelength. "You have work, I am certain, and I know I do. I can draft bills, even if I can't deliver them myself."

"It never ceases to amaze me, how you can read my mind so easily," Anakin told her, kissed her again, and dragged himself to his feet. 

"It's a wifely power," Padmé teased him, as she got up and moved for the 'fresher. "Make certain you eat! And Ahsoka!" she admonished him.

"Yes, milady," Anakin told her, laughing low in his throat, as he went to find his Ahsoka. Not his Snips, not the girl he had trained and had ripped away from him, but the woman she'd grown into. They had work to do, for their men.

+++

Ahsoka was not about to put up with any nonsense from the Jedi, so she stayed very close to Anakin as they returned to the Temple.

"Shaak Ti is the best choice for dealing with finding out who was complicit on Kamino, and trying to eradicate it in the cadets and trainees," she told him. "Working out the logistics for those men in the field will take the Council's cooperation, nominally.

"Though if they don't give it willingly, they may find I am not in a mood to ignore their transgressions for much longer."

Anakin turned his head and blinked at her, brought from nodding his agreement to completely startled, "...their what?" 

She looked at him, did a few blinks herself, and then actually brought her hand up to cover her face. "I slipped towards _Her_ again, didn't I?" She took a deep breath, released it. "The Force is wildly out of Balance, because the Order has strangled it with rigidity. I'm supposed to be fixing that. Well, technically, you were the one, and in a way you have, by teaching me," Ahsoka said, grinning a little at that. "And honestly, I have no idea what you will choose to do from here, Anakin. So maybe the prophecy will still be on your shoulders."

"Ugh, prophecy," Anakin muttered, shaking his head, before looking at her thoughtfully. In the time they'd spent trying to put his mind to rights, he'd gotten a good look at that she wasn't entirely alone in her head, so it wasn't a complete surprise. But that that other voice would speak out of her, _that_ was. 

If he was honest with himself, he kind of enjoyed the thought of her taking on the rest of the Council more than he probably should. 

"Prophecy, duty, visions… but I'll take it all on me, so the me-here-now might actually be free some day," Ahsoka said softly. "I don't want her to walk anything like the road I took." She was glimpsing that she was an anomaly, something lifted out of the time-stream and allowed to keep existing because the Daughter was her core.

"I don't, _either_ ," Anakin answered, ferocious protectiveness of his padawan -- she was still his padawan, no matter what the Order had decreed, beloved little-sister/student -- flaring up fast and intent. She had to smile at that, squeezing his hand. 

"I know you're going to keep her safe, let her keep growing," Ahsoka told him. "Now, let's go protect the boys."

He nodded and quickened his pace at her side. The majority of the Council was out, scattered on a half-dozen worlds, but Shaak Ti was here, still wounded, and the first person to talk to. It wasn't difficult to follow her presence, to find her in one of the meditation chambers, and he stuck his head through the open door. 

She opened her eyes, then met his, giving a faint smile. "Master Fisto was beginning to get anxious for you, Skywalker." She started to add something, but then Ahsoka stepped in, and Shaak could only stare, to see the realization of the huntress she had foreseen. It brought her to her feet, staring, despite Kit having insisted he had seen what he knew to be an adult Ahsoka Tano. "Huntress!"

Ahsoka gave a small tip of her head. "No need to invite the deities into this, Master Ti," she said impishly.

Anakin turned away to hide his laughter, pushing it back under his control, and looked back to them. "I can't say he was wrong to be concerned," he answered Master Ti, "at least, if I hadn't been with Ahsoka. 

"But I'm not why I'm -- we're -- here, Master. Fives was right. Completely right." 

Shaak's lekku paled, a tell-tale she did not usually fall prey to. "My … that is … reprehensible!" It was difficult for her to hold back the emotions of the moment, when she wanted to rage in fury, and was feeling not a little fear where the cadets and trainees were concerned.

"More polite than I was, the first time around," Ahsoka said, but the twitching of the lekku, the visible emotion in them satisfied her greatly. It went a long way to letting go past harms, to see this woman's protective streak rising over the Vod'e.

"More polite than I was, when you dug the memory back out," Anakin replied to Ahsoka, before he nodded at Master Ti. "Yes. And we saw how far Kamino would go to keep us from having any idea it could be true -- so it's going to take a lot of push to get the truth out of them..." 

Shaak Ti's eyes glittered with something that he had seen in Ahsoka's eyes more than once, had heard about from Rex on those occasions that he had been downed. This was a deadly being in front of him, with a hard sense of right and wrong, willing to kill to protect what they claimed, if it was necessary and just.

Shaak Ti claimed all the young of the Vod'e as hers, and they had been threatened.

"I do believe I will enjoy my return to Kamino."

Ahsoka's grin was sharp and hard, as she felt the rising, righteous fury in the normally serene master. Her brothers would be in good hands.

Anakin smiled at seeing it, at that blaze of determination and fury, and he dipped his body to her in a bow more meant than most. 

"Good hunting, Master. Ahsoka knows _a_ way to deactivate the things, but if you can... convince... the Kaminoans into giving up a better one, it'd be a relief. We have to get them all removed, of course, but with the way we're stretched right now," he shrugged his shoulders slightly. 

"It is best to deactivate for now, and move forward with a plan to cycle them through med facilities for that as they take recuperation leave," Shaak Ti agreed. She bowed slightly to him, then focused on Ahsoka. "If you can send me the specifications on the solution you know?"

"I will upload it to your files," Ahsoka agreed. "Just as soon as someone," and she pointedly looked at Anakin, but there was amusement there, "gets me a data pad."

"Hey, you're the one that took me out of the Temple to unscramble my head," Anakin replied, smiling his thanks at her even as he sassed her, "don't give me that look. I'll grab you one in a minute and get you coded back in." 

"Saves me the trouble of slicing it," Ahsoka said cheekily, before she moved to take Shaak Ti's hands, squeezing once. "I know my brothers will be in good hands with you working on this for them," she said. "And… thank you."

"What?" Shaak Ti questioned, tipping her head to the side.

Ahsoka gave a sad, but warm, smile for her. "Those lessons you gave me, on how to survive, how to hunt? They kept me alive. They let me keep hope alive for others. I never could have done half of what I've had to, if not for you keeping me grounded in our heritage."

Shaak Ti inclined her head deeply to the younger woman. "I am pleased it was helpful, but the raw talent was always there."

Anakin couldn't help smiling at the praise for his padawan, the recognition of how amazing she was, even as he marveled at her maturity and grace (even knowing the Daughter was running around in her mind, it was still... something) with Master Ti. She was amazing. 

Ahsoka let go, then added one more thing. "You're also going to want to take a piece of hide off them for not turning off the aging, Master," she added, and Shaak Ti's increased anger was just spice for Ahsoka's palate, before she and Anakin left to finish their business.

+++

Obi-Wan had proven that he truly was a capable pilot, making the jumps back to Coruscant in record time, and he had landed at the Temple before he did something he usually refrained from.

He opened the bond to his padawan, the one that should have been severed, but he had neglected to do, for the sole purpose of finding him. He needed to get to Anakin's side as swiftly as he could, all else be damned.

Anakin had been dealing with what Ahsoka knew, what they'd dug out of his mind, keeping his hand on the movements of the _rest_ of the Fleet he and Obi-Wan kept their eyes on -- worrying about the 212th heading for Mandalore, that was going to be a mess for his Master -- and hiding away with Artoo to talk to his wife through his comm channels. Staying busy, mostly, despite Master Windu obviously wanting to pick his head apart, when the sensation of his Master's presence nearly fell against his mind. 

Relief and need and pleasure ran through him, the need to see Obi-Wan pounding through him, and he asked across the training bond between them, ::Master?! Where are you?:: as he dropped what he was doing. 

::Coming up from the landing bay,:: Obi-Wan said, as relief washed through his mind to hear that strong reply. ::Quarters?:: he sent hopefully, needing to see and touch Anakin to know that the man was safe and sound.

:: _Kriff_ , yes,:: Anakin answered, and turned to head that way at his best speed. He'd had to let Obi-Wan leave in full view of everyone, this reunion was damned well going to be private. 

It did not take them long to meet at the quarters; Obi-Wan had hurried as well, dignity be damned. As soon as he had eyes on Anakin, he could calm some, bring his worries under control, as he took in the whole, physically unharmed young man he loved more than life.

Not that he could ever admit to such, and he tried hard to rein in his emotional storm as the door closed behind them. "Anakin," he said, voice just a shade softer than normal.

"Master," Anakin answered, just as soft, low-voiced and relieved, before he said 'kriff decorum' and pounced. His arms wrapped tight around the first friend he'd had in the Order, the man that had championed him and fought for him and taught him so much of what he knew... "Thank the Force. You're home." 

"Oh, hi," Obi-Wan said, rather startled, but then he wrapped his arms around Anakin as well, tucking his face into the other man's shoulder, and he closed his eyes as he felt his soul slowly settle. Maybe he wouldn't lose another person so soon? "Anakin, I am so sorry," he said then, and he meant it, for many reasons.

Anakin sighed, low in his throat, and burrowed a little closer. Obi-Wan's honest regret and sorrow slid over his mind, and punched a quiet noise out of him, his eyes closing. "It's not your fault, Master. He fooled _everyone_ It -- you couldn't have known. 

"Even in the worst of the compulsions he spun through my h--" 

"What?!"

All the relief and warm wrapping around Anakin's mind turned white-hot for half a second, before Obi-Wan caught himself, and instead, it was shame, and a sense of deep failure, for not having protected his padawan. 

He leaned into that flash of white-hot rage, the feel of it as soothing as the sharply snarled word, and then he flung negation and love at his Master, trying to fight that shame and sense of failure. It wasn't his Master's fault. Neither of them had suspected anything, no-one had. It wasn't Obi-Wan's fault that _he'd_ been so easy to manipulate... ::Don't, Master, don't...:: 

::I was meant to protect you, Anakin. My padawan. That's what I lived for, to teach you and keep you safe! It's all that--::

His words broke off, but not before Anakin caught the swirl of darkness, the taste of vengeance, the pain and anger that had been there, before Obi-Wan committed to raising the boy he had grown to love.

::...Master?:: Anakin whispered, across the link between them, shaken by that feeling in _Obi-Wan_ more than by the words -- he knew that feeling, it sat coiled in the back corner of his mind even now -- though those too were nothing he would have expected. ::I -- :: 

Obi-Wan swallowed hard. "Forgive me, Anakin," he said aloud, trying to pull back into himself fully. "You never should have felt that. And you should have been safer than you were." He tried to move back physically, uncomfortable with his accidental exposure, and trying to focus fully on Anakin.

Anakin shook his head, clinging to Obi-Wan as he shifted his weight and jaw to meet Obi-Wan's eyes with his. "There's nothing to forgive," he told him, thinking about the ways he'd tried to protect Ahsoka from knowing his failures, and that that wasn't what she'd needed at all. "I -- that you've been there, too? Is the -- " He frowned, shook his head, the words not starting out right, and tried to start over. "I don't need you to be perfect. 

"I -- I need it to be okay that I'm not." 

"Oh Anakin, I never wanted you to be perfect," Obi-Wan said, before dragging at the taller man, to get him down on the couch, if he couldn't get away. "I only ever wanted you to be the best at what you could do, and I tried to help you reach that, but perfect… no one, ever, is that."

Anakin went willingly -- Obi-Wan letting him hold on, letting him have this, letting him be as close as he'd needed so often -- and dropped, keeping hold. He held on to his Master, shifting his weight a little to get settled more comfortably, trying to figure out how to say what he needed to, what he... "That wasn't... really the point. I -- that _you_ know what that need is like..." 

For a moment, he wanted to know how Obi-Wan had thought he could survive feeling that, even not knowing it was for a second time, without Falling, the memory of his master's 'death' rearing its ugly head before he smashed it down and away. Not the point, not what mattered, not now. 

Obi-Wan flashed on the memory of Anakin being so angry with him, in the aftermath of Siri's death, and how Obi-Wan had handled her killer. That had been so close to the visions about his mother, and Obi-Wan hadn't been stupid enough to miss that Anakin hadn't said another word about his mother after Geonosis.

"Anakin. To feel the pull of taking the fast way, using the grief and rage and fear… it's normal. I am beginning to suspect, in this conflict, it's even common. And to follow it, once, maybe twice? is part of being a sentient being with flaws." The elder man gently rested a hand along Anakin's hair. "It's the rest of the time, pulling back from it, keeping it at bay, and rising above it that we must strive for, allowing the slips to be lessons guiding us to strength."

He closed his eyes and leaned into his Master's hand, his whole body shuddering as he clung with his left hand to Obi-Wan's body. Ahsoka's understanding had been one thing, the Force itself displeased but accepting that he had snapped the way he had... Obi-Wan's was entirely different. Obi-Wan saying that... "I -- you couldn't have said that three years ago?! -- no, kriff, I'm sorry, Obi-Wan, I didn't -- mean to say that. Or to yell at you. 

"...at least now I know being scared of disappointing you is just me?" 

Obi-Wan stayed silent, eyes dropping, shoulders drooped, before he turned his face completely away about that 'three years ago'. How could he even begin to explain the complicated mess he had been three years ago? He'd been at his wits end with Anakin before the crisis erupted. Then he'd been dealing with a Mandalorian, and all the memories that drug out of him. There was a reason he could hold his own against Jango Fett, after all. 

Then there had come the soul-crushing discovery that yes, Dooku had Fallen. He had never known the man, but it had always been evident in Qui-Gon's words that his master had respected the elder Jedi, even if he had not maintained a relationship with him. 

He knew he had been far too harsh in the heat of battle, so angry with Anakin for risking himself needlessly, and then guilt-ridden for all the deaths that were on his hands, because he'd been stupid and sloppy and walked right into the baited trap. Obi-Wan would have given anything for Mace to have chosen the fast way, for Yoda to have decided differently, though both left him aching for Anakin's loss, not his own.

Barely after getting Anakin back, and facing the demand to let the boy be Knighted, Siri had been killed, and there had been nothing in all the galaxy that seemed like it could fix all that was broken inside him, and with Anakin.

Obi-Wan's body tightened, his face turning away as he collapsed in on himself, and Anakin braced against -- the bitter taste of rejection didn't coat his tongue, the fury at Obi-Wan pushing him away didn't boil up under his skin -- against nothing. He took a soft, shocked breath, and moved to pull his Master, brother, and dearest friend back closer. 

"Don't," he whispered, soft, rather than shout. "Don't shut me out, not now when I can _be_ here, I'm sorry..." 

Obi-Wan made himself look at Anakin, his blue eyes haunted and brimming with pain. "You are the reason I am here. This isn't about me, never should be." He took a deep breath, trying to escape the wave of loss and fear. "You are the one who has been through a horrific betrayal. And… at risk for the entire time I have known you, apparently."

Now _that_ was, in fact, anger, but it was because Obi-Wan looking like that, feeling like that, and trying to push it all away for his sake was the kind of self-sacrificing idiot nonsense Obi-Wan was supposed to leave to him. "I need you here," he agreed, soft-voiced, watching his face, "but it's... 

"One of the things he did was set us so at odds, Master. Nasty subtle thing, I still don't understand how it was built, but... I won't leave it that way. I won't let him win -- I can't fix it alone, though." 

"I never wanted to fight with you," Obi-Wan agreed with that. "Qui-Gon wished me to teach you, and I have tried to live up to that." He settled his breathing into a rhythm that soothed him, finding his equilibrium by will power. "You became a friend, more, and every time we fought, I was left struggling to understand why we could not see eye to eye. Now, I understand… and wish I had been more firm about his interaction in your life."

Anakin opened his mouth to agree, to say he did, too... and a foreboding tremor slid across his nerves. "I... don't think that would have ended well," he said instead, "but I can't argue." 

He was quiet a moment, two, frustrated with Obi-Wan's retreat away from telling him what was wrong, what nerves he'd hit too hard in his moment of temper, and then just tucked himself back down close to him. "Rearranging my head... kind of pointed out that you probably already know the other thing I've tried to keep from you, at least mostly. But you've never said _anything_. Why?" 

"Your relationship?" Obi-Wan asked, before closing his eyes. "Because if she could give you even a small piece of happiness, it was far more than I had ever managed. I wanted you to have that. So I hid it from the others, and did all I could to give you your moments."

It was easier to keep his eyes closed, to not let them betray anything. He had envied Padmé for being able to reach Anakin. He had envied Anakin for making his relationship work. He had ached to ever find that, and not have it end in utter tragedy.  
Anakin made a startled noise, turning those words around in his mind twice before he was sure he had followed them, and he somehow managed to burrow in closer. "I -- " 

Of all the reasons he'd entertained since Ahsoka had hit him over the head with how obvious they actually were, that -- that hadn't been one of them. 

Obi-Wan slowly let his arm relax around Anakin, just sitting there, not really trusting himself to speak, but not pulling free of his former padawan. He ached for so many reasons, but he was making himself focus on the good. Anakin was, it seemed, quite sane and recovering. That he did not seem to hate Obi-Wan for the failure was a completely unexpected bonus.

"Thank you," Anakin said, quiet. "She does. Make me incredibly happy, I mean. But there's something we won't be able to hide much longer. I -- I _swear_ we were careful! We knew we had to be, and I wouldn't risk her... but. She's pregnant. And the babies are as Force-sensitive as I am." 

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at his former padawan, actually looking at him to do so. "Babies? You don't do anything by half, do you, Anakin?" He reached up with his off hand and rubbed his beard in consideration. "This could damage her career, unless we manage to put a positive spin on it quickly. And no, I am not being insensitive to the situation by being tactical; I am trying to protect both of you, the children, and the Republic.

"If we sell it to the public as a relationship that grew out of friendship, that the secrecy was put in place to preserve her ability to continue to work for the Republic, as well as for you to focus on your mission, it might work. We'll need some of Dex's contacts to 'leak' the story when Padmé is ready, and hope our version hits first."

"Twins," Anakin replied, before Obi-Wan went on, quickly strategizing in a way he hadn't even been able to consider, and he nodded slightly. He hated the theatrics, but... "Can I just leave that to you two? Me and press..." 

He shrugged slightly, knowing Obi-Wan knew perfectly well how that went. 

"Of course, Anakin. I'm already going to be handling the Council, as it is obviously the will of the Force that the pregnancy happened," Obi-Wan said, completely without missing a beat. "I can just include it in the reformations I am certain Plo is working on."

"...he, ah, has _help_ with that," Anakin said, seizing rather gratefully on the opening to warn Obi-Wan about the _other_ thing going on. "Kind of a lot of it. She's biding her time until more of the Council can get itself back to Coruscant, but... even odds on how much longer that's going to last." 

"Oh? Ahh, Shaak has been here, and based on our younger troops, I am certain she has much to say on the matter," Obi-Wan said, before realizing that was not what Anakin meant. "I take it I am missing something?"

Anakin nodded, his mouth quirking just slightly, as he considered how to tell Obi-Wan what their padawan had made of herself, in that dark future without them that she alone now knew. How to tell him what she'd become, in making the choice she did to save them all... 

"You know I'm not one for mysticism, or theory, so you'll have to debate the specifics with her, but... apparently, with the right guides on how to manipulate the Force, enough desperation and self-sacrifice, and enough need, stepping through time is, in fact, possible." 

"Oh?" Obi-Wan looked skeptical. "Which 'her' are we discussing?" Self-sacrifice was a Jedi tenet, except it wasn't seen as such. There was no self, there was only the Order. Which, Obi-Wan had long ago decided, was a load of bantha poodoo.

"Our Ahsoka. Fifteen hard years from now," Anakin replied, unsurprised by the skepticism. 

Obi-Wan considered that, looked at Anakin's face solidly for a moment, then sighed. "One, I am terribly unsurprised, I find, that you say it is her. Two, I would wish she had been spared the pain that I am certain she experienced." Of course it was their precocious, precious padawan who had done this miracle. Ahsoka was cut so fully from Anakin's cloth that it was as if the Force had seen fit to give him a younger female-twin.

"So do I," Anakin agreed, his hand tightening into a fist at some of what she'd been unable not to show him, as tightly as their minds had been linked. "If she hadn't shown up exactly when and where she did -- namely, as the Masters confronted Sidious... I would have Fallen, and the Order would have died." 

Obi-Wan shuddered at that. "I… and she… survived in a world like that? Force, no," he whispered, his heart yearning to spare Ahsoka that kind of suffering. He could not for the elder, but once Mandalore was contained, he was going to try, again, to reach out to the young former Jedi and bring her back into the fold, so he could keep her safer. "I probably don't want to know just how Ahsoka wound up being … enlightened or strong enough to manage the feat, do I?"

"Yeah," Anakin agreed, equally horrified, "she did. Apparently, fighting me-as-a-Sith in a Sith temple was the final straw in her willingness to put up with the galaxy as it was then. As to how... mm. You don't remember any more of Mortis than I do, I don't think. But she does. She remembers all of it. Including things your everyday mortal, even Jedi, probably... shouldn't." 

That made the older man draw in a sharp breath. He still had unsettled dreams about that world. "I see." He shook his head. "Well. One way or the other, I have to make it very clear to our Ahsoka, the young one, that she should come home. Permanently. Your troops miss her, I miss her, you miss her… and I don't plan to sit still for any more stupidity from the Council. Not now that it looks like we can de-escalate this war, if we're careful about it." He then snorted. "Besides that, she _likes_ children."

He blinked, startled, his heart twisting and then thudding hard in delight and relief as Obi-Wan said he was going to do something to try to bring Ahsoka -- his Snips -- home to them. Home to where she was needed, to him and their men... and his kids. 

"She does, doesn't she?" he said, thoughtful and grinning bright and quick. "I understood too much of why she left to try, but... with the changes that have to happen, maybe -- maybe she'll change her mind now." 

"One of us needs to find out what the breaking point was," Obi-Wan cautioned. "I was under the impression she was to be apologized to and requested to return. I do not understand what happened that she would step away from the Vod'e by leaving fully."

"...and who was supposed to take care of that?" Anakin asked, cocking his head at hearing that. He knew he'd asked her to, but she'd looked at him with her eyes completely heartbroken and just folded his fingers back over her beads. 

"I believe Mace, as he had been the strongest voice on the Council for why we had to bend to the military," Obi-Wan said, before sighing deeply. "Knowing him, he made a mess of it."

"You said it, not me," Anakin replied, amused at both the sigh and the growl, but he completely believed _that_. "Seems to be the thing for him, Ahsoka ripped him up one side and down the other about going directly after the Chancellor with all the rumors of our plotting a coup. It was kind of beautiful." 

"She's never been shy about sharing her opinion on things," Obi-Wan said in a dry tone. "I can't imagine it got any better with time." He ran his hand over Anakin's hair again, trying to drink in as much of his former padawan's company as he could in this quiet moment. "We'll do our best for Ahsoka, and see to making things safe for your family, Anakin. I promise."

He pushed into that hand in his hair, relaxing against his Master again. "I believe you. And no, _no_ it didn't. That impudent little brat has decided that the twins are, and I quote, 'Skycrawlers'." 

Obi-Wan had to laugh. "It does fit. Mind you, our men are likely to just call them biters. It's caught on as their word for younglings in general. I blame Boil. He accepts the responsibility," Obi-Wan said, a small lump of sadness for Boil's partner having been lost.

Anakin snorted for a moment -- then thought about the fact that his entire legion was likely to latch onto the twins, and was torn between delight and worry. The amount of vying for contact with the kids was... likely to be something else. The mention of Boil, and by extension Waxer, and thus Umbara, set his jaw hard, but he took a breath and pushed that anger away, because he had to. Because anything else was too dangerous. "I hear it's rather accurate? The 'biter' thing, I mean." 

"I don't rightly know. I avoided crèche duty like the plague, and I'm a long time away from having been that young," Obi-Wan pointed out, settling to just enjoy the quiet with his brother and friend. 

Anakin wasn't about to protest that, it had been, quite literally, more than a decade since he'd been able to be so at peace with Obi-Wan. Something would want their attention soon, but 'soon' wasn't 'now'. 

+++

Ahsoka strode confidently into the Council chamber, head up and shoulders back. She was still in her armor and kama, wearing the simpler headdress with the one, central tooth that had been polished and shaped as a jewel. Her lightsabers hung easily on her hips, and she surveyed the masters surrounding her critically.

Anakin, Plo Koon, Shaak Ti, Kit Fisto, and Obi-Wan were firmly rooted in the need for change. She knew this from brief conversations with each, as she had felt a need to approach each one for various issues pertaining to the care of the Vod'e. Ki-Adi-Mundi and Stass Allie were possibly going to understand the need for reformation.

That only left almost half the Council for her to focus on. She dropped her gaze directly to Yoda, ignoring Mace Windu, Agen Kolar, Coleman Kcaj, and Saesee Tiin. With the veil of Darkness removed, was the ancient Master actually able to see how close to the precipice they had all been?

"The known Sith are all dead," she began. "There stands a chance that Sidious had a secret apprentice elsewhere, or there may be a Dark Acolyte who can parse together enough of the Sith materials to refound the line, but Darth Bane's lineage is broken at this time."

"What of Dooku's apprentice?" Agen Kolar asked.

She faced him, giving the slightest smirk. "Dooku burned that bridge by betraying her and ordering an attack against her people. Asajj Ventress is her own woman, and will not be a Sith; she has other plans that are focused on the survivors of Dathomir."

"What about the failed Apprentice?" Saesee Tiin asked. "Master Jinn's murderer?"

"We'll know more about him once my younger self is done with Mandalore," Ahsoka said easily. "With luck, the delivery of another Jedi and more Vod'e will allow her to actually keep custody of the man, and I have a feeling Mandalore's acting government will have opinions on his fate."

"So. You evidently have something you wish of the Jedi Order," Mace began. "What is it, Lady Tano?"

"Reformation." She looked around the room at every single one of them. "The Force is blatantly out of balance, especially here on Coruscant. Sidious never should have been able to hide so well, and yet, all of you were blind to him for decades. The Order is too rigid, too focused on the form of things and not the spirit of it," she said, keeping her voice level and not unleashing the weight of her … no, that was the Daughter's… disappointment in them.

She paused, letting them murmur and talk and protest, but she noticed Yoda was not in the vocal lot. She could hear her 'allies' making an argument for why she was right, heard the others using the 'but tradition' excuses. Yoda, however, was watching her and thinking as he kept his hands folded over his stick.

"Problems, evident they are, when lost the living embodiment of the Force, we have," Yoda finally said, his voice carrying over the rest and causing them to fall quiet. "Is it not so, Ahsoka Tano?"

Ahsoka smiled just a little as she inclined her head to him. "I would not say embodiment, Master. And I certainly didn't know it when I rejected the path that Master Windu offered me, a path that still meant turning aside from my master. But yes, the Daughter has placed a piece of herself within me," she admitted.

She didn't know which was more soothing: the startled yelps and gasps of the Council members who had not known already, or the fact that Mace Windu actually looked chagrined. She'd take it, though, as Yoda's words changed the tenor of the meeting, with the masters actually asking how they needed to change.

+++

Ahsoka Tano, currently still leading the 332nd, even if they would soon be folded back into the 501st where they belonged, was barely past her exhaustion. She hadn't really been thinking when Commander Cody had assumed that she and her troops would go back to Coruscant with the 212th. She'd gone along with the deployment back to the _Negotiator_ on remote, while thanking Master Luminara for her aid, and that of her elite squadron she had brought with her to aid them.

Now, as the troops readied for planet-drop, Ahsoka was waking up to reality. She almost wished she had taken Bo-Katan up on her offer to stay on Mandalore, to help with the restructure there. At least Bo had dealt with Maul, and burned the body.

_"We'd make a great team. One disillusioned ex-Jedi and a Death Watch leader who has decided to find a middle ground?"_

Rex's bristling at something in Bo's tone or body language had pushed Ahsoka to laugh the offer off, and stay with her men, but now? What was she? Who did she think she was, coming back to Coruscant after a military action that hadn't even been fully sanctioned as far as she knew? She was no one, just an ex-Jedi who happened to be handy and able to pull off an action that had been necessary when no one else was available for it.

Well, she would just see her men down to their brothers, and once they had landed, she'd go figure out her next step. Who knew what chances might open up for her? She couldn't be afraid of the future, not when she had put herself on this path by walking out of the Order.

Anakin was _not_ pacing at the edge of the landing grid as the first transports down from the _Negotiator_ dropped. It was unbefitting a member of the Council -- since apparently no-one was letting him back off of it yet -- and would probably worry Snips and Rex and any of Torrent that were first off. He was totally not pacing. 

"You'd be better at not pacing if you picked a wall to lean on," Fulcrum said in a dry tone worthy of Kenobi. "Or you could go do reports until they actually come to brief you. Oh wait, that's how Obi-Wan is avoiding pacing." She was taking her own advice, leaned back on a wall, arms crossed over her lekku, even as it kept stirring all of her emotions to see so many brothers! 

"Yeah, but she knows that's my 'I want to pace and can't', just as well as you do, so... doesn't really help much," Anakin pointed out, watching the craft coming down intently, "and even if she didn't, Rex does." 

Kriff, Rex had been the one to finish knocking it out of him... 

"Then you might as well pace," Fulcrum retorted. "They're going to know you are agitated and be worried because you never came back to the fight anyway. Which means they are likely to be agitated… or Rex will be. I'm actually surprised he got her back on the transports, given that they were recalling back to here."

"I'm not letting the rest of them see me pacing," Anakin replied, shaking his head at her before he smiled, wry, at her ability to distract him at least for a few seconds. "Thanks, Ahsoka." 

"You're welcome, Anakin." She turned her attention to the one that was just touching down, eyes seeking the younger version of herself, curious for that first glimpse. Yet, as if to tempt her resolve in her course to arbitrate a better future, it was a certain Captain, recently promoted to Commander, who first stepped, off, bucket under his arm. She could not help the catch in her breathing to see him, young and full of vigor, that air of command and service so strong in him. 

She forced herself to look away before the man noticed the hyper-focus on him, and silently hoped her younger self recognized what was meant to be one hell of a lot sooner in this life. Even if the aging thing was fixed, it was not worth wasting time over!

Anakin felt the flare of her emotions, looked at her for a moment even as he lifted his hand to Rex, turning it in 'get over here'... and then there was Ahsoka, coming off the ramp, and something in her posture had him stretching out across their bond, ::Snips. Hey, you.:: rather than move _or_ call across the grid aloud. 

She'd meant to see all of the men to the barracks with their brothers, say hi to some of the ones that hadn't been with her, and then get off the Temple grounds, but as soon as she was off the ramp, her Master's touch slipped over her mind, silent words that reverberated with a quiet love she had never had reason to doubt. She looked for him, found him standing with -- who was that? She didn't know of another adult Togruta Jedi and it definitely wasn't Master Ti -- someone, and she couldn't help but smile incredulously. He'd been waiting for them? For her? ::...hi, Skyguy,:: she answered, though it was far from her best skill. 

Who _was_ that? 

Rex caught the motion in his other General's hand, reminded himself that Ahsoka had been a temporary fix, and he needed to go back to calling Anakin his proper General, and started that way. He was curious about the other Jedi, a tall Togruta in armor actually shaped for her.

Fulcrum began to wonder what in kriffing hell she had thought she was doing, coming down here. Seeing Rex was wrecking so much of her emotional control, but … he was meant for Ahsoka. The one he had finished growing up with. She forced herself to look at her younger self then, seeing signs of deep fatigue, the small marks of cinders that had landed on her that had not fully healed, and … the set of shoulders and lekku shifted, indicating something had reassured her.

Fulcrum figured that was probably Anakin's doing, and she appreciated him making the effort. 

"Sir," Rex said as he got close enough to actually greet his General, Ahsoka at his side. His eyes flicked over the face and lekku of the stranger, his eyes going narrow as they registered in the same chevrons of blue and wings/diamonds/lines of his commander's face. 

The closer she'd gotten to Skyguy, holding on to the connection between them, the more baffled she'd gotten, because the woman at his side -- she looked like _her_ , or, rather, who she might grow into, after another couple of growth spurs, but... that couldn't be, could it? She looked away from the impossibility, even as her head spun a little. Skyguy looked like he'd been through _haran_ , but there was something... peaceful, almost, in his mental touch, and _that_ wasn't a word that easily applied to her Master. 

"Rex," Anakin answered, reaching out to wrap his right hand around his left shoulder, painfully grateful to see him alive and well and young, not the old man he'd seen through Fulcrum's eyes in all of their work in his head. " _Vod_ , is it ever good to see you." 

He let go of Rex and reached for his wide-eyed padawan instead, wrapping both of his hands around her shoulders, having felt her confusion get thicker and thicker as she got closer. Of course, he'd also felt Fulcrum second-guessing herself. "And that goes for you, too, Snips. Don't mind Fulcrum, and yes, we'll explain as soon as all four of us -- oh, no, you are not cutting out on me now -- are in a locked chamber." 

"Which one of us, Anakin?" Fulcrum asked in a sardonic voice, knowing she half-wanted to evade that meeting. She then looked at the younger Togruta, before glancing at Rex. "You can call me Fulcrum," she said. "And I know your names already."

Rex hadn't really let up on his narrow-eyed appraisal, but if the general said 'later' they'd get it later. He turned to call down to his acting lieutenant, so that explanation came quicker. "Get everyone reintegrated, and find Appo! He'll have orders for you all!"

"Yes sir!"

That taken care of, he looked at Anakin. "Whenever you're ready for the briefing, sir," he said stiffly, his own way of demanding answers, because kriff if he was coping with the weirdness after all they had just come through!

Fulcrum had to drop her face down, to rein in her amusement; that was so very Rex. Had the impatience to get to the bottom been there all along, or had Mandalore been what pushed him to the point of wanting facts now… and then she realized. He knew about the chip, and needed to tell Anakin. This had been his original plan, the reason he nearly killed himself with guilt when the Purge happened in her timeline, because he had waited for Mandalore's campaign to end… and it hadn't been soon enough.

That voice was almost like hearing an echo of her own, especially in the tone, but Ahsoka firmly didn't look. She was keeping herself focused on Skyguy -- except when Rex's voice got that sharp, and she had to put her hand out for him. She knew what he needed to tell, and she pushed urgency at Skyguy. It was easier than words, and he'd listen... wouldn't he? 

Anakin snorted at the impudent, impertinent question from Fulcrum -- so very much his padawan, even with Snips under his hands and staring up at him in baffled worry -- before he looked at Rex and his mouth quirked at that very _particular_ tone. 

"I meant you, Fulcrum," he retorted to the question, his left hand squeezing Snips' shoulder gently, trying to reassure her with his touch that it was okay, even as her urgent 'now' ran across his emotions. "Right. Come on, then," he said, and headed for the absolute closest spot he could actually lock, turning his hold on his padawan to a light touch with only his left hand as they went. 

He wasn't surprised when Rex put himself between Snips and Fulcrum, not in the slightest. 

Fulcrum, for her part, didn't push against any of them and their particular space issues, and took a spot further from them all than Ahsoka ever would have. She understood the anxiety and worry in the air, especially from Rex.

After all, how could she not understand how he worked after all the years she had known him in her world?

Tucked away, the door locked, and Fulcrum taking up a wall instead of one of the chairs didn't actually do enough to get Rex unwound, but he had a duty.

"Before we discuss our mission, sir, there's a matter concerning the Vod'e," Rex said, eyes cutting toward the stranger wearing his commander's markings with suspicion. Fulcrum looked politely engaged, but said nothing, letting Anakin choose how to handle the man.

"I know, Rex," Anakin answered, deciding in a moment to deal with Rex's worry for their men before the suspicion about "or, more accurately, I remember again. It's okay, no, seriously. There's nobody alive that can trigger that _karking_ monstrosity en masse, and -- " 

"What?!" Ahsoka yelped, twisting to stare at her Master, because Skyguy sounded way too calm about that. 

Rex, likewise, was staring at his general, uncertain what was going on, unless… "You took care of it, sir?"

"No, I did," Fulcrum said. She shifted, crossing her arms a little, holding her lekku down rather than allow them to be blatant on her savage satisfaction at having done so. "Anakin was… influenced. After all, that kriffing di'kut had had years to lay groundwork. But Anakin is who revealed him for what he was to the Council, and got them off their shebs."

Anakin rolled his eyes, looking over at Fulcrum for a moment. "Sent them off into a trap, you mean," he muttered sourly, trying to wrangle the three lothcats at once that were his stunned padawan, his stunned Commander, and Fulcrum being even more herself than usual and having very little luck at it. 

"Rex, Snips -- yeah, no good way to do this, fine. Snips, if you ever wondered what you're going to look like fifteen years from now, you're staring at her. Or, sort-of her. A you that's not going to exist, quite, because Palpatine's dead." 

Ahsoka reached out, laid her fingers on her Master's forehead to see if he was feeling well -- too hot, but normal for him -- and looked back and forth between him and Fulcrum (the woman claiming credit for the death of the Chancellor, and Skyguy was so calm about that, was...) 

Tall, graceful, actually beautiful, obviously dangerous -- that was supposed to be _her_? She wasn't sure she believed that, even with Skyguy saying it, and even if she did... "But -- how?" 

Fulcrum took pity on the younger version of herself. "You know how you've had an increase in those visions that you pretend you don't have ever since a particular planet that you can't remember anything about? It changed us, Ahsoka. Forever. But I am willing to take on the responsibility of that change, leaving you free to be… you."

Rex stiffened in protective mode over the idea of anything having affected his commander, a shift that did not go unnoticed by Fulcrum at all. She approved, and hoped it led to a better beginning for them than she and her Rex had faced, with being on the run and separated too many times.

"I had gone to learn more about the Sith, got myself trapped in an old temple of theirs, and learned something that would let me fix the history that had given them victory," Fulcrum told them all. "It took me several days to rework the ritual, but when it did, the moment it chose to send me to was the fight between the Council and the Sith Master. 

"I wasn't impressed, especially when the Council members kept getting in my way, but we eventually dealt with it. After that… it was just a matter of helping Anakin, and dismantling the other contingency plans."

Ahsoka had flinched at the mention of the visions, but she had to nod. She knew she'd felt different, somehow, after that, even though she couldn't remember. She tried to absorb what her -- older self? This was beyond weird even for a Jedi, and she was pretty sure she didn't like it -- was saying, and she started talking out her reactions. "A Sith temple? Totally ew. That can't have been -- " 

In mid-sentence, she froze, as what Skyguy had said, what Rex had told her about the chips, and what Fulcrum (why that name? it sounded like a vod's, which was fine, but) had just said crystallized into what she hadn't wanted to accept. The Chancellor, the man that had sent them into so many situations, that everyone had trusted as the face of the Republic, hadn't been being manipulated by the Sith like she'd wondered when Rex told her, he'd _been_ the -- 

She didn't know if she wanted to fling herself more at Rex, to protect him from what had to be going through his head, from that so many of their brothers had died for absolutely nothing if the Sith had been on both sides of the war, or at her Skyguy, because he'd been closer to the Chancellor than anybody. The profanity and the comment about 'influenced' -- Fulcrum meant with the Force, not just... 

She whistled high sharp fury, the hand that had been on Skyguy's forehead grabbing for him while she coiled the Force around Rex in a hold she meant to be felt through the armor. 

"Easy, Snips," Anakin said, soft and soothing, sliding his hand up over hers, petting gently, trying to pull her down out of the anger that was so much like him that he wouldn't have scolded her if he could. "Easy... easy, Ahsoka. It's all going to be okay, now. It's going to be okay, we're going to make sure. Shh...." 

Fulcrum was watching, preferring what Ahsoka was going through now to what she had gone through in the weeks following the Purge. She glanced at Rex, seeing his body locked up in the stress of training versus revelations… and then he moved. 

Rex stepped closer to his generals, hand going not to Anakin's shoulder, though he knew how often that piece of filth had contacted his general through the war, but to the young woman that was so overwrought, the feel of her Force pressure on his skin both a shock and a comfort. 

"Easy, 'Soka," he added, his low rumble full of reassurance and gentle acceptance of what had come to be. "Our men are going to be safe now, and that's what we were most worried about getting here, so don't waste your anger on a dead man."

Anakin felt Rex come close, looked at the way his hand was settled on her, and he couldn't do anything but smile at the sight and sound of him trying to settle her -- it'd seemed like she listened better to Rex than him, sometimes, maybe this would be another of those. He squeezed her fingers gently, trying again to soothe her. 

She'd cut off her sound to listen to Rex, her head turning to look up at him, and she forced herself to nod at his words. How he could be so calm, so steady, was beyond her for a few moments. She slid her free hand up to hold on to his gauntlet, breathing in, and out. He was right, of course. He was so right. 

What mattered was that their men were safe from being turned into puppets, turned against their Jedi. What mattered was that the Sith was dead -- spoiled, rotten meat good for nothing -- and couldn't hurt anyone else. He'd hurt so many, killed so many... but he was dead now. Dead before he could do it. 'Give them their victory', Fulcrum had said. 

Which meant... she felt herself getting paler and paler, as her head turned towards Fulcrum. Skyguy had said 'sent them into a trap', and... "You lived through...?" 

"I did. On Mandalore," Fulcrum said softly, drawing in a deep breath when Rex jerked his head around at her. "You helped save me, Rex. It led to us on separate paths for a time, but it meant survival, and a chance to begin something bigger, to resist, to cut away as many of our brothers as we could, before they were swallowed by the Empire.

"Fifteen years of fighting from the shadows taught me too many things about myself, how far I was willing to go, in trying to undo what had happened," she added. "It won't happen now, but just like I am having to prod the Order to change, people like Organa and Amidala and Mothma need to provide real reformation to the Senate and Republic as a whole," she finished. "Because the Sith didn't completely create the corruption they took advantage of. A lot of it was sheer greed and power grabbing from many generations of powerful people."

Ahsoka held on a little tighter to Rex's hand, listening to that -- of course Rex would've helped her, that was just how they worked, but the idea of living through that frightened her more than a little. She would have survived, she would have to, but... She wanted to hug her older-self, but wasn't sure if that was entirely a good idea. "...prod the Order?" 

"Her bullying the Council is the best thing I've seen in years," Anakin said, squeezing her fingers, "several of them, even. Especially because it's gotten to where she and Yoda are teaming up on Mace and Master Tiin."

"Well, Master Yoda had a point. And is surprisingly able to learn from his mistakes." Fulcrum shrugged. She then focused on Ahsoka. "Try not to disappear on us, okay? I know you're not sure what to do now, but the men need you, Skyguy needs you, and… I think you might have an idea or two on what is really wrong with the Order."

Rex couldn't help but tighten his hand on Ahsoka, deeply rejecting the idea of her leaving them at all. He didn't want to face any kind of a future, even a Sith-free one, without her near. The idea of having saved her from his brothers was hard, but to know they had been separated made him growl in his soul on a very primal level.

Ahsoka blinked, before she felt Rex's 'don't go' and need for her, and she leaned towards him, making a soft, reassuring noise before she looked at her Skyguy, startled. Why would he need _her_ , if -- 

"She's right," Anakin told her, able to read some of what she was thinking, "I _do_ need you. A lot. And _not_ just because I have no idea what to do with a baby, let alone two." 

Ahsoka's high noise of surprise made Fulcrum laugh, even as Rex stared at his general.

"Biters, Sir? I seem to recall soldier morale lectures on that subject?" Rex finally asked, unconsciously moving so that Ahsoka could fully lean back against him, unaware of how protective and possessive his body language had become.

Fulcrum relaxed back against the wall, feeling the shift in emotional ties, strengthening and firming, that would keep Ahsoka and Rex solidly connected, as well as there where Anakin needed them. It would free her up, once she had shaped the Order enough, to go on, to move away from these echoes of happier lives. There was no need for two Ahsoka Tanos, but there was a need for the Daughter.

Anakin rolled his eyes heavenward, sighing. "Yes, I got them too; yes I _followed_ them; **no** , that doesn't seem to have stopped the Force from insisting on very sensitive Skywalker children. 

"Padmé, at least, is thrilled. I'm... mostly terrified I'm going to break them somehow."

"Hah!" Ahsoka said triumphantly, looking up over her shoulder at Rex against her back, "someone's going to clean house..." Though if the Force was being meddlesome, it might be good that she mostly only fooled around with girls... mostly. And no, she was not thinking about who was pressed up so close to her, not at _all_. 

"Certainly will. I think Jesse took over the pool keeping when we lost Fives," Rex said, sad that his brother, his _vod'ika_ who had been murdered and been right!, wasn't here to see the end of the pool he'd begun.

"Hmm, pretty sure none of them have the right date," Fulcrum said casually. "Given that our esteemed Senator-and-Jedi pair decided to get hitched _before_ he came to the 501st?" she told them, just to watch their jaws drop. She'd enjoyed getting to know Padmé better in the days since her arrival, as she managed keeping the pregnancy calm despite everything around Padmé.

"Seems our General was a precocious nine-and-a-half year old," Rex finally said with a faint chuckle.

Anakin laughed at both of their expressions, before he grinned at Rex, quick and bright and wicked, "Rex, vod, you have no idea. She decided she was willing to have me; what else was I gonna do?" 

Ahsoka shook her head, grateful for the distraction. Her Temple training was saying 'maybe not break a dozen Order rules' and the rest of her saying 'kriff that'. She went with the rest of her, and said, "Can't think of what it would be." 

That made Fulcrum smile before she looked at Rex. "Commander Rex, detail a scout ship to go search for Kix. That's one mission we never completed but Wolffe had found evidence a pod did escape that battle. I can give you the most likely bearing. We need to bring him home."

Rex looked to Anakin for confirmation, even as hope sprang up.

"Do it," Anakin said instantly, staring at Fulcrum with hope that matched his Ca -- Commander's -- welling up in his own chest. 

"I always regretted not being able to follow up on that once Wolffe gave me reason to hope," Fulcrum said softly. 

"Wolffe was tipped off?" Ahsoka asked her, tipping her head a bit to the side. "About the chip? Or he was rescued?" That she was hopeful for her Finder was all too evident, and Fulcrum had to shake her head.

"Wolffe was safe, because of what Asajj had done to him," she answered sadly. 

Rex took that in, thankful, at least, that his brother hadn't turned on the man he looked to as a father. "Anything else, sir, before I see to that mission?"

Anakin considered. Palpatine was the Sith and dead, they'd met Fulcrum, he'd told them about the babies, they all knew about the chips and what needed to be done about them... "Don't think so, Rex. Everything else is just politics and can wait, in comparison to bringing him home."

"I'll go with Rex," Fulcrum said, "to feed him the coordinates for his team, and handle the chip in the team he chooses." She gave Ahsoka a warm smile, then gestured for Rex to lead on, all casually powerful grace and agility in the way she moved.

When the door closed behind her, Ahsoka was still sort of staring in her direction, stunned, all over again, at the idea of growing up like _that_.

Anakin watched her staring after her older self, and reached to wrap an arm around her again. "So you're gonna be joining the members of our line taller than Obi-Wan, it looks like..." 

"Not so hard to do, after all," she said with a snicker. She then turned and tucked in hard against him, arms around his waist, all of the stress of Mandalore bubbling up, shedding off of her now that she had brought their men home, as many of them as she could protect.

"Gotcha, Snips," he murmured, holding her in, a soothing noise low in his throat. "You did good... you did good." 

She breathed in, then out, falling into her training and just let his presence settle her.

+++

Fulcrum had done all she could to set the Jedi on their best path forward. Her younger self was home, safely ensconced to continue bringing them back fully into the Light. The vod'e would be protected, and life would go on.

She, however, could not stay. She had lived her life once, under very different circumstances, and was no Jedi, even now. The power that had been graced to her was one that was a heavy burden of its own, but Fulcrum would not let it hinder her.

There was an entire galaxy out there, and so many in pain and need. It was time to see what she could do about that now, accepting her destiny to protect and nurture. There would even be an apprentice to find, or at least to guide to the right hands, from Lothal. The future was unwritten, and she was looking forward to guarding it in the Light.


End file.
